Cold
Fuji only caught a glimpse of a blue-black braid disappearing around the corner at the end of the school day. He frowned, Hariel had started to say something before the bell interrupted, and he had a feeling it was important. She wasn’t nearly as upbeat and cheerful as she had been on her first day of school.
He worried for the sometimes too kind girl. Would she even fight back if people bullied her?
He frowned, cold malicious eyes appearing for a split second when he heard the Captain of the girl’s tennis club giggling. He caught Hariel’s name, and wondered if he should step in...
Tezuka’s silhouette in front of him reminded him of his own tennis obligations though, and he reluctantly went to get changed.
“Echizen, did Hariel-chan mention anything about her after school plans for today?" His cute kouhai glanced at him. “Nothing.” Came the short answer. Fuji hummed thoughtfully.
_________
Hariel was standing under water set as hot as she could tolerate. The steaming water streamed over her head and she ducked her head. Watching soft pink swirling down the drain, she pretended that the pretty colour was just shampoo as the water droplets clung to her eyelashes blinding her slowly as she started seeing fractals of light instead of a clear image.
Half the tennis practice had been spent being pushed around, until her knees were bleeding straight through the bandages she had put on before the weekend. It was Monday, and already she wanted the week to be over. The regulars had kept tripping her, claiming accident every time.
It felt like the entire school hated her, even though she knew that wasn’t the case. It was the captain, birdlike Nakamura and that Fuji-fangirl whom she still didn’t even know the name off. The rest was just going along with it to avoid becoming the target themselves.
The other regulars might be jealous of her, but without the instigators that would likely have passed easily enough. Instead the two girls were fanning the flames, painting her in an as unfavourable light as possible.
Hariel thought back to the slurs on her desk and nearly snorted. Teenagers... if they really thought that this was going to be enough to make her quit Seigaku they should think again. Dementors were worse, and Hermione on a research-binge far more intimidating.
Fondly Hariel wondered how her friend was doing... This whole situation brought up so many memories. She missed seeing the brunette. Big green eyes blinked in thought, as she remembered that Hermione had been bullied in primary as well. She had spent some time dabbling in psychology, as if trying to find a reason, any reason.
Luna was still being bullied right now. She frowned, now that she was in this position herself again, she felt even worse for just leaving the blonde to be ridiculed. She thought of the girl as a friend and it felt like she was failing her.
Hariel sighed beneath the warm water. There never was any reason good enough. Jealousy, envy, sometimes pride. Always it was about someone being different, and crowds were fickle, it only took a few people stirring things up behind the scenes for a whole class, or even a whole school, to turn against someone after all.
She shut of the water, tucking a towel around her naked body. She hoped that everybody had left already. Shuffling into the locker room, she frowned when she didn’t see her uniform. Her bag was there, but not her clothes.
She bit her lip, wondering what she was supposed to do now... Magic couldn’t help her, she didn’t even have a wand. Frowning she wondered if she could call out to Ryuzaki-sensei without being seen. She felt frighteningly exposed and vulnerable... naked.
She froze in horror when she realised that the door was locked.
Several minutes before Coach Ryuzaki had frowned, it was sloppy not to lock the door. The lights hadn’t been on, and with no clothes left she had assumed that all the girls had gone home...
_____________
Nakamura giggled, she was shredding the arrogant upstarts uniform. “Dump it somewhere on your way home." Fuji’s blonde fangirl, who had been trashed by Hariel and was definitely holding a grudge, nodded gleefully. She had already finished destroying the raven’s sport clothes. “I hope she has to look for someone in her panties. That should teach her some humility."
Neither girl noticed the ice blue eyes watching them, nor did they notice the distinctive click of a camera.
______
Yukimura frowned, Hariel never lied. Hariel was almost never late. Hariel had promised that she’d come over today after tennis practice. So where was she...
He dialled impatiently. “Ryoga-san. Where is Hariel-chan?” He asked abruptly. The bluenet was worried. Ryoga, standing in a hallway at his university, frowned at his phone. “What do you mean?" He asked, something like fear starting to spark in his stomach.
“She promised to come over after her tennis practice ended. She’s already late by an hour." Yukimura stated tonelessly. He was feeling horribly useless, stuck in bed. His recovery was going incredibly well, but he still couldn’t walk far enough to go out and find her.
“I can’t leave, I have an exam worth half of my grade in less than an hour." Yukimura could hear the frustration in his voice. “I’m going to text you Ryoma’s number.” The violet-eyed boy sighed. “Thank you. Good luck with your exam. Don’t worry too much, I can’t go anywhere, but I’ll inform him and once she’s been found I’ll text you.”
He refused to accept any other outcome. “Thanks Yukimura." “No problem.”
____________
Hariel shivered. It wasn’t that cold yet, but the summer was ending, fall was already creeping upon the land, and she had nothing except a t-shirt, her panties and a hoodie to keep her warm. Her phone was dead, of all the days to forget to recharge it. She could write to Hermione and Luna, since she had the book in her bag. It wouldn’t help though, it wasn’t like they had phones...
Shivering slightly, she rubbed harder, trying to towel her hair dry. Wet hair would just make her feel colder.
She curled up tighter, pulling Fuji’s fluffy white hoodie around her, huddling into the soft cloth. She had grabbed it this morning, with the intent to return both the shirt and the hoodie to their rightful owner. It was just lucky that she had completely forgotten to actually do so. Lucky also, that nobody had thought to search her book bag for clothes.
As she bit her lip she wondered if anyone missed her, and if they would even think to look here... She had no idea how much time passed, but judging from the shifting shadows, she’d been her for hours already.
She could see that the sun was starting to set through the window and her stomach rumbled. She was hungry, and the too familiar ache in her tummy, the phantom nausea of almost starving was making it hard not to cry. It wasn’t that bad right now, but it just reminded her of the ache of days without food, lips parched and cracked from only being allowed a small amount of water.
The Dursley’s hadn’t done it often, but if she did something too freakish in their eyes their favourite punishment was to just disappear her in her cupboard. And if they forgot to feed her... well she was the freak girl, they really didn’t care.
__________
Ryoma texted all of the regulars, letting them know that his imouto was missing and asking if they could, please oh god where is she... HELP.
Oishi and Kikumaru, who had been studying together at Kikumaru’s house, paused. Frowning, Kikumaru immediately replied. ‘Of course, tell us where you need us to search o-chibi. We’ll find her.’ Oishi always worried, and Kikumaru liked the tiny second year. He wanted to be her friend...
Inui and Kaidoh, still at the park for training, also read the text. “Hariel-chan doesn’t get lost." Kaidoh said, and to Inui he sounded upset. Because if she wasn’t lost... then where was she. “89% chance that Fuji will be able to find her.” Inui stated calmly, glasses glinting threateningly. “And 95% that foul play was involved.” Kaidoh’s eyes darkened. Green bleeding into black in rage. There was no way that he was going to let whoever did this get away with it.
Momoshiro, at the street court, glanced at his phone. ‘What do you need me to do, Echizen?’ He texted back almost immediately. Hariel was a nice girl, and Ryoma was his best friend. He prayed that nothing had happened to her.
Kawamura was at home, doing strength training. He stopped to answer his text message and was glad that he did. ‘I’ll help too, Echizen.’ He added to the group message.
Tezuka frowned, someone on his team was legitimately upset. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. ‘Where are you right now, Echizen?’ He texted back, ready to seek out his kouhai.
Fuji frowned, several scenes flashing through his mind, building into an uncomfortable scene. Hariel resigned and sad. Nakamura maliciously pleased. Sumire-chan, muttering about having to lock up.
Something cold had been crawling up his spine the entire afternoon, worsening steadily as the evening dragged on. Just after dinner, Yumiko had pulled a sweater over his head, and told him to go to Seigaku. She’d been frowning, and hadn’t said anything else. His sister was never wrong though, and he had been rounding the corner to the street the school was located on when Echizen texted.
‘I might know where she is. Checking now.’ He texted back briefly. He was running now, that ugly painful feeling clawing at his spine, skittering in sickening waves over his vertebrae.
Without a second thought he climbed over the gates. “Keys, keys keys..” Fuji muttered feverishly. Grabbing his cell phone, he dialled Tezuka. Not wasting any time on small talk, he started talking as soon as the line connected. “Tezuka, where do I find the keys to the girl’s locker room?”
To the Captain’s credit, he was quick enough to realise why Fuji would ask that and didn’t protest at all. “Ryuzaki-sensei’s office. One of the windows might still be open.” The stoic sixteen-year old told him succinctly. “Right, okay...”
Ending the call and pocketing his phone again, Fuji scaled the building easily, spotting the glimmer of a partially open window even in the low light of the late evening. Shimmying over, he twisted his arm beneath the pane of glass. He hissed as the metal of the locking mechanism cut into his arm, scraping the wound open as he pushed that little bit further. When the window unlocked, he ducked into the room easily.
Grabbing the keys, he pushed open the window, dropping down to the ground and rolling to disperse the kinetic force of his landing. A second later he was running again.
While he unlocked the door, he hoped against hope that Hariel was just asleep somewhere nice and calm. That she missed the bus. That she was already at home now.
When his eyes adjusted to the dark room, he inhaled sharply in pain. There she was, teeth clattering together, lips pale blue... “S-S-Syuu...su..ke-se..se-sen-pai.” She was shivering too hard to talk straight. Every inch of her skin was pale, tinting almost blue under the moonlight. Except for her cheeks, where two sickly red splotches were burning high on her cheekbones.
She was staring at him, curled up in a tiny ball against the cold tiles. Her eyes kept drifting away, her gaze unsteady, fever green. Fuji sank to his knees, pulling of the too hot sweater. All she was wearing was his t-shirt and his hoodie. He tugs of the hoodie, pulls his sweater over her unnaturally stiff frame and then gently guides her arms into the white fluffy material again. Picking her up bridal style, he felt anger flaring to life at the knowledge that she had been suffering, had likely become ill because of two jealous girls.
He had promised her that he’d look out for her...
His arm slides straight under her legs, and her limbs were cold, too chilled. Her skin icy to the touch. He inhales unsteadily in shock. She's so cold. An arctic icy nose brushes over his collarbone.
Hariel curled into him. Something soft is singing in her heart. She’d been found, she’d been missed. She nearly cries out as his too hot skin brushes against her naked thighs. Her core temperature is too low and it hurts. She can’t feel most of her skin anymore, but it feels like fire where he presses against her.
She wants to cry. Wants to stop hurting. Wants nothing more than to crack open his ribs to crawl away into his too fierce heart, so she can safely hide forever. “Syusuke-senpai...” His name is whispered like a prayer. She doesn’t even realise she’s spoken. “Hari...” He needs to find a way to warm up her legs, or she will keep losing body heat which she can’t afford to lose.
Thoughtfully he cocks his head to the side. “Hari-chan, I’m going to take back my hoodie to wear it okay? Then I’m going to carry you like a baby monkey, you can wrap your legs around my waist, underneath the fabric alright?” He wants her consent. They’ll be tangled even closer than they are now. Her eyes are sliding shut from sheer exhaustion but she nods faintly.
He sits down on a bench with her in his lap. She’s faintly shivering and blinking tiredly.
Slowly he tugs off the fabric, leaving her in his t-shirt, he prays she has underwear on, and the sweater Yumiko gave him. It’s too long on him, and on her it’s a dress. He’s thankful for her foresight. He pulls on the white hoodie, it’s long and fluffy. He leans over her dazed form and her head lolls forward to lean against his chest, but she slowly reaches out with shaking arms. She winds her icy limbs around his neck and then her pale legs wrap around his waist.
He makes sure that her legs are covered by the soft white cloth. Her head is dropped onto his shoulder and if she isn’t asleep, she’s close to it.
He starts carrying her towards his home. It’s closer than the temple and she needs to be warmed up.
Preferably before she catches pneumonia. Fuji is angry. He is furious in a way he hasn’t been since Yuuta was being crushed beneath his shadow by other people. He wants to make those girls suffer. If they hadn’t destroyed her clothes, she wouldn't have become ill at all. She would have been locked in accidentally and it would have been bad, but it wouldn’t have been dangerous to her physical health.
It’s unlucky circumstances. An attempt at bullying gone wrong, gone too far. He doesn’t care. He will see them gone from Seigaku for this. Eerie blue glints in the dark, and Fuji looks far more threatening than should be possible for a teenage boy with no magic.
___________
Tezuka catches up with his anxious first year regular halfway through an empty street. “Echizen." He states calmly, hoping that he isn’t startling the boy. Ryoma spins around, golden eyes larger than normal and panicked. His face is stoic as always, his hands are jammed into his pockets casually and Tezuka gets the sinking feeling that it’s because his hands are trembling.
“Buchou...” He whispers and Tezuka doesn’t know what to say. He can’t make this better. Instead he steps closer and slowly pats Ryoma’s shoulder. He can only hope that the younger boy feels comforted in some way, because this is about the extent of his skills in emotionally charged situations. The captain is well aware that he can be distant, but he has never wanted to be cold.
Ryoma didn’t even mean to go to him, but the older boy is strong and steady. Honourable, reliable. Sort of like a rock in a stormy ocean, and he always makes Ryoma feel safe. It felt natural to cling to him now, so he steps closer to the taller boy and twists his fingers into his jacket.
“Fuji called about keys. I think he will have found her by now." Tezuka’s voice is low, it sounds almost cold, except Ryoma can hear the faint worry. His only response is Ryoma’s shaking shoulders.
He doesn’t know why the first year is this upset. It seems like an overreaction to a girl missing for only half a day. He doesn’t say so. Echizen is not the type to make a fuss about nothing.
He waits calmly for the boy to calm down. “Hariel... she was bullied really badly at her old school. She ran away after they attacked her so badly that she ended up in the hospital.” He wouldn’t normally spill Hariel’s secrets, but he is spilling over from anxiety.
Tezuka’s eyes widen briefly, now he understands the fear. It’s not just that she is missing, it is because the last time she was missing, it had ended badly. No wonder the first year is so upset.
A ping is heard, and awkwardly the taller boy takes out his phone. “Fuji has found Echizen-chan, he’s taking her to his house because... she’s undercooled.” Ryoma inhales unsteadily and somewhat selfishly Tezuka prays that he won’t cry.
Slowly Tezuka guides him towards Fuji’s house. He absently texts the rest of the people looking for her that she’s been found.
The sheer relief that she’s been found combined with the stress of having spent hours in uncertainty is enough that Ryoma feels a little dizzy. Not to mention, he hasn’t eaten since midday.
Tezuka stops him with a gentle hand. Then he kneels down, Ryoma stares for a second, uncomprehending. Then he gratefully slumps against that rock-steady frame.
He knows he’s being unreasonable. That he is over-reacting. That Tezuka is here to hold him up for a while, to carry him along on his strong back for a while means the world. “Thanks.” He mutters against the brunet’s warm skin, and he feels safe.
“Aah.” No further words are exchanged, but Tezuka carries him all the way to Fuji’s home.
_____________
Fuji doesn’t even have to ring the bell. Yumiko is opening the door before they even reach the front yard. Warm air meets them inside the brightly lit house. It doesn’t feel good for her.
Hariel doesn’t scream though. The pain isn’t like liquid-fire. It’s not like the basilisk’s poison that had almost killed her. It feels more like a dull burn, and she has a very high pain tolerance.
Fuji easily carries her upstairs. He tries to put her down on his bed, but she clings to him shakily. He smooths a gentle hand over her wild curls. “I’m just going to pick out some more clothes for you. I won’t be far okay...” He kisses her forehead. It feels like a firebrand, but in the best possible way. Extremely reluctantly Hariel lets go.
The slender boy wanders off to his dresser. He rummages through the drawers, and eventually picks out plaid pyjama bottoms. The cotton is old and worn soft from years of use. Then he picks out two pairs of socks. It can’t hurt, he reasons with himself sadly.
She’s perched on the edge of his bed, small stiff fingers awkwardly twisting into his sheets. He kneels in front of her. “May I?" He’s not going to be the one who ignores her boundaries. She nods slowly, something bright and happy burns in her heart. He asked... he always asks.
He lifts one tiny icy foot, and tugs the cotton over it, then repeats the step with her other leg. Tugging the soft worn checkered cloth higher up her legs, he tries to ignore how soft her pale thighs are as he drags the pants higher. Now really isn’t the time. Dizzily she stands up so that he can pull the white blue fabric over her hips. She tries not to react to the fiery hands trailing over her skin, because it feels good even though it burns.
When she loses her balance, her baby bambi legs refusing to cooperate any further in their half-frozen state, he catches her easily. Now his hands are wrapped around her hips, holding her up with an easy display of strength. She blushes when he slowly guides her into sitting back down. She giggles briefly when he lifts one foot to tug on a striped green blue sock. He smirks, deliberately tickling her other foot. She squirms and smiles at him.
If he ignored the fever red cheeks and her glazed eyes, it would have been a perfect moment. Slowly he tugs on the next pair of socks. Hariel blinks when she realises they are embroidered with tiny cacti, and then she smiles at him. “I like the socks.” She whispers, and her voice comes out rough.
Fuji pulls back the sheets, and Hariel takes the cue, flopping over onto the soft mattress. She pulls on his arm and he acquiesces. As soon as he is lying down, she crawls on top of him. With one leg between his, splayed over his warm chest as she contently tucks her head beneath his chin, she finally starts to feel warm.
Fuji blinks, and then curls his arms around her waist. He holds on tightly and when she tilts her head up for a kiss, he deepens the warm touch. Mapping her mouth slowly with a languid soothing kiss, the fear skittering up his spine finally, finally dissolves.
Hariel sighs, she feels unsteady and tired. Like all of her energy has been drained away. Fuji’s body is uncomfortably hot against her still too cool skin, but she wants to burrow into him anyway. Ancient power gliding over their skin, twining and steadily creating a feeling of safety deep inside her chest.
His hand is softly stroking her back and it’s lulling her into an almost dream-like state despite the dull ache. He’s been silent for so long that she absently wonders if he has fallen asleep. “I’m sorry.” His voice is softer than normal, and abnormally serious. It’s not that Fuji never takes anything serious, but he usually has a certain amount of amusement woven into his voice, because the world does amuse him. He is not amused now.
Hariel hums in question, why is he sorry? In panic she opens her eyes, does he want to break up with her? Is she not good enough because she was stupid enough to get herself locked in? Before the thoughts can spiral any further out of control, slender fingers start combing through her hair. Too hot lips press gently against her forehead for a long lingering second. “I promised to protect you. I failed.” There is a certain amount of self-hatred contained in the softly spoken words.
Fuji does not fail often, and normally when he does, he is amused because it is rare, fascinating. None of that applies now, he is sorry and genuinely upset.
Hariel’s eyes snap open. “Nobody ever came looking for me before. Syusuke-senpai... you didn’t fail. You found me.” Blue eyes soften, but she can see that the anger at himself isn’t gone. She frowns, but he only smooths a gentle thumb over her furrowed brows. “I will make this right." He promises her, and there is something too hard in his gaze.
Hariel doesn’t care. The malicious, almost sick gleam in Fuji’s eyes doesn’t scare her. At heart Hariel loves, it is the core of who she is. She loves people, loves life. But she has not in return, been loved much. Hariel’s food was never guaranteed. There was never safety where she grew up, and for all that love is what is in her heart, it has been hatred on which she’s been raised.
Cold indifference was spoon-fed to her tiny baby mouth. Deliberate neglect was washed over her frail toddler body, and pain was painted on to her soft child-smooth skin.
Hariel doesn’t have it in her to care about how somebody cares for her, as long as they do. She’s been starved of positive attention for too many long endless years. So if Fuji cares for her in a way that looks like a bonfire gone wrong to others, she doesn’t mind. If he hurts other people, well, she has long since stopped caring for anybody but her own people. Innocents are different, and she never condones violence much. She just can’t bring herself to condemn others for it either, so long as it is in retaliation. She despises bullies.
If bullies get tripped down the stairs though, because they were sticking out a foot to make someone crash down all of the steps in a broken heap? That is a different story all together.
Hariel is a creature of love, but she’s never been taught about mercy.
Yumiko enters the room with a bowl of steaming chicken soup. She wonders vaguely why the college student had been cooking get well soup during the evening after dinner. “Hariel-chan. Your parents have been called. All the regulars who were looking for you have gone home, but I think your brother will be here soon.” She cocked her head to the side, the bell rang. “There he is."
Ryoma enters Fuji’s room, followed by Tezuka. Hariel blinks calmly at her brother as Fuji sits up, he keeps the blankets arranged around her cool body as he manoeuvres her around into sitting up as well. In the end he is leaning against the wall and Hariel is leaning against his chest, curled up against him between his legs. She relishes in the safety provided by two strong arms wound around her waist. Doesn’t want to contemplate how she’s going to react if he lets go.
Yumiko gently sets the serving tray with hot soup on it on her lap. The spoon is deeper than normal, and Hariel is grateful because her hands are shaking too much for a normal one. Slowly she blows on the steaming hot liquid, and when she sips it hurts. The soup burns all the way down her throat in a wave of fire. It is necessary, but faintly resentful she does wish to just chuck the makeshift torture fluid out of the window.
The female Fuji walks up to the bed, and gently tugs on Fuji’s arm. Shoving up the shirt shows the scrape, she hums and then returns with a first aid kit. Slowly and carefully she cleans the cut on his arm, and then puts a square piece of sterile gauze over it. In quick elegant loops she secures a bandage over it. Hariel swallows uneasily. Was that her fault?
Yumiko gently pats first Fuji and then Hariel for good measure on the head. She smiles kindly and then leaves the room with the servey tray.
The golden-eyed boy drops to the floor, Ryoma isn’t crying, but it is a close thing. Normally they only hear about the dangerous or painful situations she gets into after they are resolved. He has never been confronted with the nail-biting waiting part of her accidentally too interesting life. For all that Ryoma is surprisingly mature, he is still young in a way Hariel never was.
Hariel reaches out with one pale hand to softly card through his hair. He is kneeling next to the bed, his head resting on her knee. “Sorry, nii-chan.” Hariel says softly. “Baka-imouto. Why are you saying sorry?” Ryoma grumbles back, but he doesn’t protest against her hand in his hair. He makes a very good attempt to be his usual disinterested cocky self, but they all know better. His grip on her wrist is too tight to be anything but desperate and scared.
“Ah, Echizen-chan. I’m glad to see that you are alright now. I will take my leave now." Hariel thoughtfully looks at the third-year captain. She doesn’t know him, except from stories. He is honourable though, and he cares for his team. She knows that Ryoma wouldn’t have sought anyone out in his distress, so the boy must have come to her aniki himself.
“Thank you for keeping Ryoma-nii-chan company Tezuka-buchou.” There is a flash of surprise in his cinnamon eyes and then he nods carefully. Hariel approves, she is glad that her aniki does have a good team.
The tall brunet turns to Ryoma and hesitates for only a small amount of time. Then he wanders over to very sweetly pat Ryoma’s shoulder. For someone else it wouldn’t seem like much, but he is much like Ryoma and so the boy knows he cares. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Echizen.” He nods at Fuji and then he is gone.
Hariel turns to face Fuji with a sly smile, she gets a foxy grin in return. The two tennis-obsessed left-handers are a lot alike... They seem to fit together well.
Hariel falls asleep soon after he leaves. The day has been long and stressful and her dreams are much the same.
________
When she wakes up, it is still dark. Fuji is spread out beneath her and she sighs softly. It is safe, she is curled into him, and his arms are wound tightly around her waist. Everything feels hot though. His skin is blissfully cool but in a daze she kicks off the blankets. Hariel nuzzles against him, smushing her face further into the enticing curve of his neck.
Fuji wakes up hot. Not even in a fun way, but literally overheating. Hariel’s clammy, fever-sticky skin is plastered against him. He frowns, she’s sick. He doesn’t know how sick, but the guilt surges in him again. All his fault...
Ryoma is asleep, curled up against the side of his bed and he vaguely wonders just how much time has passed.
Fuji wonders sometimes, if he would still find Hariel so fascinating if he ever manages to unravel all of her secrets. He is pretty sure though, that she is unpredictable enough to remain a colourful splotch of chaos in his boring world. He teases and prods, pushes and tugs, because he is bored. Almost everything and everyone is predictable.
Yuuta called him fickle once, because he goes through hobbies and interests so quickly. There are only a few things which have captured his attention for longer than a few months. It isn’t that he is shallow or loses his passion easily. Being as smart as he is has the disadvantage that most things are too easy to figure out. Once he does, he usually loses interest.
Hariel is never easy to figure out.
He glances around in confusion when he hears someone knock on his door. It’s not a rhythm he is familiar with. “Come in.” He calls, intrigued. He feels a little bit like a deer caught in the headlights of a car when Hariel’s parents enter the room while he is in bed with their daughter. When Rinko merely smiles at him kindly, he sighs out in relief. The first time he had come over for dinner, he had clocked on to the fact that Rinko is far more dangerous than Nanjirou.
To be expected really, a lawyer has to be shrewd and cunning.
“Fuji-kun. Thank you for finding our daughter.” He tenses. “I should have put it together sooner.” Rinko frowns, she can see the guilt and the frustration and she wants to smooth over those feelings. “You didn’t lock her in. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” She states kindly, patting the boy on the shoulder softly.
Then she turns to Hariel. “Hey Hari-dear.” She whispers softly. Hazy green is slowly revealed as Rinko feels her temperature. “Kaa-chan.” Hariel whispers sleepily. “Are you ready to go home? I don’t think we should impose on Fuji-kun much longer.”
In a split-second green turns poison bright. Hariel curls away from her touch, backing away from the woman. She flings herself towards the wall, hiding behind Fuji. He is a little bit shocked at the development, but nevertheless reaches out a hand to pat her head. “What’s going on Hariel-chan?” Fuji asks softly. He doesn’t particularly want her to leave, but he understands why her parents would want to take her home.
Hariel begins to mutter, and curls into a tiny ball against the wall. She weaves her fingers into her hair and starts tugging violently. Rinko watches in shock as her daughter descends into a kind of breathless hysteria. Fuji sits up slowly and when he does Hariel crawls into his lap, wrapping herself around him as tightly as possible. She’s wrapping all of her limbs around him and then proceeds to hide her face against his neck.
Nanjirou watches, resigned. When he spots a faint glow on her hands, he steps in. “Bishoujo.” He calls calmly. Ryoma, who woke up when Hariel flung herself to the wall watches wide-eyed. Acid icy green meets his calm hazel gaze. “We won’t make you do anything, okay.” He demonstrates by slowly patting her hair, while making it abundantly clear that he is not going to make a single move to tug her away from the boy she is holding tightly.
Slowly the glow dims, and her poison eyes brighten back into lively emerald. She blinks as if she’s waking up. “Wha? S going on?” She blinks and they can all tell that she isn’t quite aware. Her head keeps lolling to the side, and she keeps blinking rapidly, as if to wake herself up.
Fuji slowly, soothingly rubs her back and her rigid grip slowly loosens as she leans her weight against him more and more.
When Rinko tries to step closer again, her grip tightens and her body language changes to tense and rigid again. The woman frowns, stepping back. “What’s going on?” She asks Nanjirou slowly. The Samurai sighs. “I think she’s... sick, and upset. It’s not a good situation. She’s scared and out of it.”
With everyone not bonded to her further away, Hariel melts into a floppy weak puddle in Fuji’s lap. She’s tired, and sick. She feels unsafe, and adamantly does not want to let go of Fuji, not even for her mom.
Fuji found her, was the first person to ever take her out of a bad situation, and she wants to stay with him. He’s warm and he makes her magic all gliding and smooth and she wants to cling to the rain and spice scent. It’s grounding.
“But why doesn’t she want to go home?” Rinko asks, her voice rising in her frustration. She loves Hariel, and it hurts to be rejected for a boy she has only known for a short while. Her baby girl looked at her like she was the enemy...
Ryoma snickered, and the building tension abruptly shatters like so much cheap glass. “Invite Fuji-senpai. She’ll go home.” He mutters. Somehow, the sight of Hariel confused and dazed, clinging like a baby monkey to an even more confused Fuji is funny. She’s safe, she’s aware enough to cuddle with her boyfriend. Ryoma is fairly sure that everything will work out fine. Besides, the sight of a confused tensai is to be savoured. It might not happen again.
“Eh?” Fuji squeaks out awkwardly. Hariel hums like a great big cat and then proceeds to rub her face against his neck. “Bishoujo, do you want Fuji to take you home?” She hums in what could be affirmation. “Can we take you home now?” He asks, just to be sure. When he gets a threatening snarl of all things, he sighs.
“I’ll go and discus the options with Yumiko-san.” He states calmly. Rinko frowns, not sure if giving in to strange demands is the best way to handle this situation. “Hang on. I don’t know if that is a good idea. Hariel needs boundaries, and since she is sick she needs to go home now. We can’t just let her demand things Nanjirou, that would be bad parenting."
It sounds reasonable. Normal even. Except Hariel is not just a child, she’s also a traumatised witch. Her magic runs high enough in her core that she straddles the boundaries of creature-like behaviour when she’s not feeling centred.
Normally the instincts provided by magic are faint. Witches and wizards are so long removed from their roots that they are more human then magic. The primordial raging power turned into little more than a convenient tool. But Hariel... her magic still runs wild and she doesn’t even try to control it. Her connection with magic is wide open. Her mind provides balance, instinct working in tandem with reasoning. But her mind is hazy right now, and her magic wilder then normal still.
All she hears is threat, someone wants to take her away from her bonded. The last time someone wanted to take her somewhere while she wasn’t fully awake, she woke half-starved in her cupboard two weeks later. Magic begins rising in near visible waves, and she will sooner disappear herself then allow herself to be taken away.
Ryoma frowns at his mother. He knows she means well, but she hasn’t been home nearly enough if she hasn’t realised that a sick Hariel is more like wounded predator then a human girl.
She can’t help it. Her demand isn’t a demand, it is instinct. The raven rises on shaky legs, and in sync Ryoma and Fuji rise with her. Pleading eyes glance at them and when they smile reassuringly at her, she tugs them behind her in her wake.
Before Rinko or Nanjirou can even react, Hariel herds the two boys down the stairs. She only pauses long enough to make sure they have shoes on. Then she pushes them out of the front door. When they are far enough away that Hariel is reasonably sure nobody can take away her boys her legs start trembling. She’s running on energy she doesn’t have in sheer desperation.
“Wow hey, okay hold on..." Fuji says, startled, as her legs buckle. He sweeps her up into his arms. “I won’t go back. I don’t want to go back. Don’t make me go back.” It’s faint and Ryoma barely catches it even though he is standing right next to the couple.
He gets a sinking feeling, a picture of a piece of Hariel’s past that he adamantly does not like. He carefully brushes her sweaty bangs away from her flushed face. “Ri-chan... what did you think was going to happen?” “I don’t want to go there... they hate me. He always sends me back...”
Ryoma feels sick to his stomach. The realisation of what happened painful and ugly. Fuji frowns as the greenet pales. “Echizen, what’s going on?” He asks gently but firmly. Golden eyes glance up at him, then the first-year sighs. “You know that Hariel used to go to a boarding school right?" The honey-haired teen nodded.
“Somehow, most years she would end up in trouble." Ryoma snorts bitterly. “Her old school was a fucking battle ground. Spies and puzzles, mysteries and danger... Hariel always wants to help, so of course she was always in the middle of whatever plot was afoot.”
Golden eyes closed briefly in sadness, in anger. “I think... I think she was always shipped off back to her godawful relatives no matter her condition. She’s so out of it, her old memories and the now are melding into one confusing event. She always used to beg the headmaster to let her stay for the summer, but he never did. So she would attempt to save whatever needed saving, get hurt, and then she would be separated from her friends, while sick or injured, to be send back to her very own personal hell.”
Fuji swallowed hard. “So when Rinko-san mentioned taking her home, and therefor separating her from me... She thought she was being torn away from someone she trusts, to be sent back to her abusive relatives.” Ryoma nodded, face pinched and worried.
The prodigy carefully carried the tiny girl along. “What a mess...” He’s not entirely sure what to do, but he does know that they need to take Hariel somewhere she feels safe. “Where should we go? I want her to be able to rest. She’s sick enough as it is." Fuji says, frustrated. Ryoma nods. He loves his mom, but she really messed up.
Hariel moans weakly, trying to focus is hard, but when she hears Fuji’s question she realises there is only one place she wants to go. “Seiichi...” The name leaves her lips as a hoarse but unmistakable whisper. Fuji glances at Echizen, who nods back calmly. It makes as much sense as anywhere else.
“Do you have some spare cash with you?" Fuji asks his kouhai bluntly. He isn’t carrying any money himself. Hariel is bundled up in his clothes so he already knows she has no money whatsoever on her right now. Ryoma nods. “Enough to take the bus to the hospital.” He confirms easily, having guessed the tensai’s thought process.
He hums. “Good. Let’s go.” The trio of Seigakustudents stride off into the dark.